AUSTIN — The Texas Senate will begin its impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton Tuesday morning, considering 20 articles of impeachment voted on by the House.
No attorney general before Paxton has ever been impeached in Texas. The last impeachment of a statewide elected official was in 1917, when the House impeached and the Senate convicted Gov. James “Pa” Ferguson.
As reported by The Dallas Express, Paxton was impeached by the House in May in a 121-23 vote. The 20 articles of impeachment claim the attorney general had disregarded his duty and abused his office to the benefit of himself and his allies.
There has been significant pretrial activity, with both Paxton and the House team prosecuting his case, filing numerous motions pertaining to the trial.
The Senate, which will serve as the court of impeachment with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as its presiding officer, has not ruled on the motions but did issue a gag order on all trial participants, as covered by The Dallas Express.
The weekend before the trial, Paxton spoke at the Collin County Republican Party Labor Day Picnic alongside his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and other elected officials.
While barred by the gag order from discussing the impeachment trial specifically, Paxton slammed the leadership of the House for allegedly cutting deals with Democrats in order to retain power, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Calling the Texas House the “leading issue we need to deal with,” Paxton urged the cheering crowd to “clean house,” pointing specifically at Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).
“We all know now the name Dade Phelan. We saw the videos of what happened, and we see his leadership,” Paxton continued.
Immediately before the impeachment investigation into Paxton was revealed, the attorney general had called upon Phelan to resign after videos showing him seemingly drunk on the House dais went viral on social media, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Phelan has not answered questions regarding the videos, which show him struggling to stand, slurring his words, and appearing disoriented while conducting House business.
While Paxton has been at odds with the Republican leadership of the House, support for the embattled attorney general within the Republican Party of Texas has remained high, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi has supported Paxton over Phelan, calling the impeachment “a declaration of civil war by Republicans in the House, namely House leadership.”
Nevertheless, Phelan has defended the House’s actions, saying, “I stand behind what happened in the House, and I’m proud of the work product that the board of managers put forth. And we have a good team. And it was the right thing to do.”
The trial will begin at 9 a.m. The Dallas Express will be in attendance, reporting daily on the historic proceedings.